Discussion: Lego TMNT Baxter Robot Rampage

I can’t say I’m a huge fan of TNMT. Your friendly neighborhood jman is more of a casual bystander. The Turtles surfaced well into my teenage years, when I had already put such childish things aside for more important things, music and girls. So, I pretty much missed the boat on them.

Suresuresure. Over the years I’ve picked up a TMNT figure or two, here and there, but strictly based on the “coolness factor” of the figure, not out of any real desire to express my fandom. My boys, though, love the latest incarnation of the Turtles on Nick. So, when Lego released their TMNT sets, they wanted them all, as soon as humanly possible.

Of course, I had to get a set myself. What can I say? I love Lego. Yea, that’s right. I’m an old dude, and I love Lego. Let me tell you, everything right about the world is in Lego. There’s nothing like opening that box, taking out the numbered bags of Lego bricks and dumping them in a pile. Every Lego guy (or gal) has their own way of putting sets together. Some are neat and methodical. Some are, (like myself) well…not so neat or methodical.

There’s just something sublime (yes. I just used the word “sublime”. I think that’s the first time EVER that I used that word in print) about putting a Lego set together. There’s something very “in the zone” about the experience. It’s probably akin to being Neo in the Matrix, dodging bullets in bullet time.

The “thing” with Lego for me, though, is the size of the sets. To really capture that “putting the set together” feeling, you gotta buy the bigger sets. The bigger sets a) cost a helluva lot of money and b) where do you put a set like that after it’s together? Displaying an action figure on a shelf is one thing. You can fit 50 million figures on a shelf. But those huge Lego sets? They take up some serious real estate.

That’s why the Baxter’s Robot Rampage is a great mid size set. It’s really what I love best about Lego. Lego does robots right. It’s so flipping clever how they come up with the designs for the robots. I wish I had that power; the power to take a bunch of random bricks and build…something. Anything. That doesn’t look like a 4 year old just put a bunch of random bricks together.

I could continue this sonnet to Lego for days. But, we’re gathered here to discuss Baxter’s Robot Rampage. Besides the awesome robot, with it’s shooting attachments (don’t aim at other people’s eyes kids!!! Your own are fine, though.), the set comes with 4 (yes…FOUR!!!) minifigures. April O’Neil, Donatello, Raphael and Baxter. And, a little mouser that isn’t so much a minifigure as it is an awesome use of miscellaneous Lego parts.

The set also comes with two little Turtle vehicles. The vehicle designated for Donatello is pretty clever. The one for Raphael is probably something I could’ve put together, which would make it fairly “meh”. So, I gave it to my son, Jakob, sans Turtle.

The set is one of those “semi-exclusives” that can only be found at Lego stores (lego.com, included) and Toys R Us. It retails for $39.99, which is on the higher end for me to pay for Lego. But, because of the minifigures and the Baxter’s robot, the set is definitely worth it…